Feel free to substitute other herbs and adjust the amounts as you see fit. The longer your vinegar infuses, the stronger it will be. You can start using it after about a week, but I recommend letting it brew for at least a month to develop the flavor. I put one jar aside every spring for next spring, when it packs a powerful punch.

To strain, pour through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a clean jar. Squeeze out the last, strongest goodness from the plant matter before discarding.

Label and store in a cool, dark place. It has a shelf life of forever.

While winter turnips typically make their way into cold-weather soups and stews, small, delicate baby turnips are among the first early-season roots that lend themselves to pickling. For this dish I thinly slice the turnip pickles to reveal their rose-petal-pink interior and elegantly arrange them on plates so they can be properly admired before digging in.

In addition to selling fruit trees, berry plants, and flowering shrubs, at Elmore Roots, we make jam from our fruit. A couple of years ago we grew ginger outdoors and combined it with our pears and apples. It came out as a really tasty jam. Here is our recipe.

Parents who make their own baby food appreciate knowing exactly what they’re feeding their baby, they are glad to be avoiding additives, and they enjoy feeding their baby the same fresh foods that the rest of the family eats.

Parents who make their own baby food appreciate knowing exactly what they’re feeding their baby, they are glad to be avoiding additives, and they enjoy feeding their baby the same fresh foods that the rest of the family eats.

Parents who make their own baby food appreciate knowing exactly what they’re feeding their baby, they are glad to be avoiding additives, and they enjoy feeding their baby the same fresh foods that the rest of the family eats.

Parents who make their own baby food appreciate knowing exactly what they’re feeding their baby, they are glad to be avoiding additives, and they enjoy feeding their baby the same fresh foods that the rest of the family eats.

For our “Mama Ganoush” we start by roasting all of the overgrown zucchini we can rustle up. Keep the mixture cold and enjoy this summer treat. It’s up to you if you want to tell your friends that it’s not made with eggplant.

Supporting mutton will expand your culinary reaches while saving you money. It will also add a revenue stream to the balance sheets of local sheep farmers, making their enterprises more competitive and sustainable. Mutton may be a vanishingly small piece of the culinary landscape of Vermont now, but a few people expressing interest in mutton by talking to a sheep farmer at the farmers’ market or calling a few nearby sheep farms could start the ball rolling.

Here are some ways we enjoy eating shoots and sprouts. Shoots, sometimes called micro-greens, are seeds grown on soil in trays that are harvested at a small size for eating. Sprouts are not grown on soil, but are simply germinated seeds allowed to grow to an optimal size, at which point they are eaten roots and all.

Here is a recipe for baklava, a very sweet Middle Eastern treat that has the sweetness of honey, the tang of citrus, the taste and texture of walnuts, and the crunch of filo pastry. The combination is irresistible.

Quince originated in the Caucasus region of Europe and predates apple cultivation. It may even have been the fruit of temptation in the Garden of Eden. To honor this, I adapted a recipe fromJerusalem: A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (2012).

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Our stories, interviews, and essays reveal how Vermont residents are building their local food systems, how farmers are faring in a time of great opportunity and challenge, and how Vermont’s agricultural landscape ties into larger questions of sustainability and the future of our food supply.